MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th November, 2019) Russia plans to launch 15 GLONASS navigation satellites into orbit between 2020-2022, documents from the satellites' manufacturer ISS-Reshetnev Company and obtained by Sputnik revealed.
According to the documents, two GLONASS-M satellites, numbered 60 and 61, and 13 GLONASS-K and GLONASS-K2 satellites, numbered 13 to 25, will be launched before 2023 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
Earlier in November, Sputnik obtained documents that showed Russia's plans to launch about a total of 30 GLONASS-K2 satellites to overhaul its aging GLONASS navigation satellite constellation.
Over the past five years, Russia has been launching no more than two navigation satellites annually. At the same time, the majority of the GLONASS satellites in orbit operate beyond the warranty period. As a result, the GLONASS network experienced multiple malfunctions in 2019 when only 21 devices remained operational, while a total of 24 global satellites were needed to ensure global signal coverage.
The GLONASS navigation grouping currently consists of 27 satellites, including 23 operational, two in maintenance, one spare and one in flight test phase.
